Approaching the Foss Waterway from Commencement Bay in Tacoma, the presence of Thea Foss is all around.
On the shore of the downtown side, there is a small patch of land adorned with a bright blue globe underneath an American flag: Thea’s Park. On the industrial Port of Tacoma side, there is a sign painted on the side of a storage tank welcoming visitors to the Foss Waterway.
Then there is the history museum that bears Thea’s name: the Foss Waterway Seaport.
A less noticeable landmark comes when crossing under the towering 11th St. bridge. Historian Nancy Bourne Haley said right around here was the first place Thea and her husband, Andrew, gathered scrapwood to build their first home in Tacoma.
“It was ramshackle.They had a cow to get milk for the children. And they had to get water from a stream coming down the hillside. It was a real rough life,” Haley said.
For much of the 130 years since Foss arrived in Tacoma, it seemed her story might be lost to history. But there have been several efforts to preserve the legacy of this pioneering entrepreneur.
Investing $5
The Fosses immigrated first from Norway to Minnesota, then made their way to Tacoma in the late 1800s, looking for economic opportunities following the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
“There were a lot of wealthy business people from the East Coast that were coming here and investing,” Haley said. “She was on the other side of the tracks, if you will. And she was amongst the immigrants who came to provide the workforce.”
While Andrew Foss spent two months working on a construction project in Gig Harbor, Thea stayed in Tacoma, taking care of the children. But she also found a way to bring in income by buying a rowboat from a local fisherman for $5.
“She painted this boat green and white and created this business as a courier back and forth to the ships, or helping the seamen, get to shore to deliver mail or various tasks,” Haley said. “And slowly but surely, she earned enough money to acquire more boats. And when Andrew got back, he realized that she was making more money than he was.”
That was in 1889. And it was, Haley said, the birth of a company that still exists today as Foss Maritime.
“They eventually developed more sophisticated steamships and launches — it was the very beginning of the Foss Tug company,” Haley said.And Foss’ influence went beyond boats.
“She made her boathouse into a dormitory, and she would always have a pot of coffee available for anyone,” Haley said. “They didn't have to be Scandinavians. They could be from any walk of life, any background. And so as a result, I think she became a very revered member of the community at that point.”
So great was Foss’ impact in the community that when she died in 1927, according to one account in the Tacoma News-Tribune, her funeral drew thousands of mourners.
“I just think it’s amazing that a woman of her time could have accomplished what she did and at the same time been a loving, caring member of the community, had this big family, and did so well,” Haley said.
Nearly forgotten
While her sons carried on the Foss company name, Thea’s trailblazing story itself receded into the background.
There were magazine stories and feature films in the 1930s and 40s called “Tugboat Annie.” The fictional character Annie was said to be a mash-up of several real-life individuals, including Thea Foss.
It would be decades, Haley said, before Foss’ legacy would be properly celebrated around Puget Sound.
“Before social media, before the internet, I think people were not as informed about their local history,” Haley said.
It wasn’t until 1989, more than 60 years after Foss’ death and exactly a century after she started her company, that the local Sons of Norway chapter successfully persuaded Tacoma City Council to change the name of City Waterway to honor Thea Foss.
Thea’s park opened in 1996. Ten years after that, Haley produced a documentary called “Finding Thea.” The filmmakers took to the water to ask boaters and kayakers in Tacoma whether they knew the story of Thea Foss. Few did.
Haley said Foss left very little written documentation of her life. But there were interviews with Foss’ descendants, and Pacific Lutheran University compiled accounts from other immigrants in its Scandinavian Experience Project
“Through reading through and listening to all those stories and doing as much research as I could about what life was like here in Tacoma on the waterfront, I had to kind of construct this story about her,” said Haley. “But otherwise it was really hard to find out clear, true facts about their beginnings.”
That included whether Foss’ first name was pronounced the Norwegian way — “Tay-yuh” — or the American way, “Thee-uh.”
“It's funny. I would always go back and forth, and people would say, ‘Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Who's ‘Tay-yuh?’” Haley said. “So, it depends on who you're talking to as to how you should pronounce her name.”
Before her time
When Haley’s documentary was shown on local TV in Norway, it resonated with people there. Haley said a playwright who lived close to where Thea Foss had grown up was inspired by seeing the documentary.
“She had a theater company and she decided she was going to write a play about Thea Foss,” said Haley. “And I was so inspired seeing this play that I asked for her permission, if I could bring it back to Tacoma.”
In 2017 she did just that with the help of two local directors, Marilyn Bennett and Suzy Willhoft.
“We talked the Foss Waterway Seaport into being the stage for the play. It was a wonderful community project,” Haley said.
Foss’ story shows how the names we affix to local landmarks can spark curiosity and sometimes even creativity for decades into the future.
“She became a legend, because she was a woman well before her time that just took an opportunity and ran with it and made the best of it,” Haley said. “And I admired her for that.”
